


jaw(bone)

by THA_THUMPP



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boys Will Be Boys, Character Development, Cliche, Jealousy, Minor Character Death, Multi, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protective Older Brothers, crack!fic, long ass one shot, sorry for the length
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-26 11:27:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5003020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/THA_THUMPP/pseuds/THA_THUMPP
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's summer. Ten friends are partying on the Washington's yacht, in the middle of the ocean, when a stranger shows up... They're gonna need a bigger boat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	jaw(bone)

**Author's Note:**

> Don't ask. Blame the Stranger's dialogue in the Lodge starting with, "You're going to need..." and Mike's later comment about "sharks" while wading through the water in the mines with Sam... Um, have a laugh?

The Washington’s million-dollar luxury yacht, the _St. George_ , was anchored afloat the vast ocean blue. It bobbed up and down with each wave struck, water on all sides and no land for miles. The sky above was like a mirror, reflecting the deep colors of the sea around with no storm cloud to be seen up high or a gust of wind so strong maidens would weep. It was the perfect day for a getaway; the low music from the yacht’s inbuilt speaker system the only ambiance needed, frozen cocktail pouches in the cooler, there but only if wanted, and booze shelved in plain sight behind the open-air mini bar not only for show.

It was like every hormonal teen’s wet dream. Literally. The white froth of the undulating sea was there for the eyes, the slapping of waves against the hull for the ears.

Signifiers much? Josh Washington thought so.

“Ahoy there, crew and crewettes--” he broadcasted, talking into his camcorder briefly before turning it loose on deck. His transition was so smooth he could have been pegged as a professional director if not for the casual wear; the beanie, the plaid shorts, plain t-shirt and flip-flops. “--and welcome back to the annual oceanic escape from reality hosted by yours truly!”

Fake-cheer, the crowd went… not so wild.

“Crewettes? Really, big brother? That’s not a word.” Beth spoke up from one of the stools at the open-air mini bar, her legs crossed snugly at the thighs. She had her iPhone in hand, thumb scrolling through whatever story she had bookmarked on Wattpad before the trip. The content had to be steamy because her cheeks were as bright pink as the wide-neck crop top she was wearing.

“Uh, hashtag that bitch on Twitter and MAKE it a word, lil’ sis! I mean, come on--who could’ve predicted that ‘selfie’ would be added to the fucking dictionary, am I right? And don’t even get me started on ‘amazeballs!’ YOLO!” Josh smiled, and as he tried to get a shot of Beth’s eyes rolling the camcorder was shoved back into his face. He waved her off with a laugh. “Hey, you wanna swab the deck? Be nice to your big bro--OW,” he laughed again as Beth slapped him over the head to straighten up.

She probably smelled his third frozen pouch of margarita on his breath.

“Okay, OKAY!” Josh smiled even wider as he ducked away to avoid any more of his sister’s wrath. One step did the distance, but before he left her alone for good he reached over the counter of the mini bar and cranked up the dial on his iPod charging on its dock. _DJ Turn It Up_ by _Yellow Claw_ sounded even more epic coming from the big speakers mounted on the back wall, the bass loud enough to feel in the floorboards.

“Jesus, what are you--deaf?” Beth grit her teeth, covering one ear. She would have covered both if not for her iPhone.

“Hey,” Josh left his camcorder on the counter, the HD monitor now flipped forward so he could see himself on the screen as he walked backwards and away. The framing wasn’t perfect, but it would do. “I’m just doin’ what the music tells me to!” He shouted and humored his own funny bone at the sight of Beth trying to flee the noise.

Out onto the sun deck she stormed, right past him, where she decided to settle next to Ashley on the sectional sofa. Josh followed shortly after her, but wouldn’t sit. He was too pumped for action and waved an arm above his head like he was trying to lasso a tornado.

“Ladies and germs, tell me you’re having the time of your lif--” Josh couldn’t finish.

_“Bro, your satellite is like, messed up or something. I can’t… Yeah, I can’t get a clear signal, keeps crapping out on me. No wait--wait, it’s loading! Shit, really? Like REALLY?”_

_Really_ was right, and that was Josh’s thought exactly as he turned around with heavy eyes that wanted to roll in expectation of finding Chris up on the yacht’s second story, up on his tippy toes, holding his iPhone up to the sky and—yup. There be Chris, in the exact pose Josh predicted him to be.

“Uhh, it’s not the end of the world, BRO,” Josh shouted up, megaphoning his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. “That’s what the ‘watch later’ button is for! You know, for LATER? You’re not missing much on _YouTube_ right now, man!”

“Are you kidding me?” Chris leaned over the balustrade to peer down at Josh. He took his sunglasses off to reveal his eyeglasses underneath. “Are we like, even on the same planet right now? Do you even care that you’re causing me pain like, physical pain?”

“Dude just, put your damn phone down and come n’ soak up the sun, will ya?” Josh said-demanded, motioning around the deck. “You really need some if you wanna keep that bisque complexion of yours.”

“What?” Chris almost gave himself a double chin as he looked down at his wardrobe. “What’s wrong with my complexion?” He looked back towards Josh.

Besides the white skull-and-poles _Salt Life_ undershirt, the blue over-shirt on top of that, and the dark denim jeans, all of which weren’t swim-friendly? Nothing.

“You’re getting a bit pasty, man,” Josh ribbed and silently enjoyed watching Chris hold both wrists out to affirm his skin color.

“Dude, are you… are you calling me white?” Chris fake-gasped.

“You take a look in the mirror lately?” Josh said, unblinking. “No one would be able to spot you on a snow map in _Call of Duty_.”

“Oh bullshit, that’s an exaggeration,” Chris shouted when he caught an old quirk pulling at his best friend’s mouth. Christ, that dopey smile. He made the motion of throwing his phone down, but it never left his hand. “You’re so full of it!”

“That’s why you love me!” Josh sneered and blew Chris a bro-kiss with a loud ‘mwah,’ which was waved off. In response, Josh made the motion of being shot in the heart with an arrow and staggered back dramatically like ‘oh, ya got me, so long cruel world.’

For a minute it was cute, all fun and games, until he nearly toppled over the glass table built into the deck and fell into the unsuspecting laps of both Ashley and Beth. Chris gasped the same time Ashley did.

“Whoa--hey, watch it!” Ashley said, tucking her legs to her chest and throwing a hand out to steady Josh; rather Josh’s butt from taking a seat in her lap. Her other hand never left the straw summer hat she had sitting on her head in the meantime.

“Ashley.” Josh thought about thanking her for the save, but hey, he was a guy. “I-I know we don’t really know each other that well, but if you wanna--ya know--give it a squeeze, feel free. Who knows, you might actually like it.” He wriggled his ass a little in reference. “Chris tells me it feels firm.”

“Hey, I did NOT, Josh--” Chris’ voice was high-pitch in his embarrassment as he started to make his way downstairs; to check if Ashley was safe, Josh could only assume. “I’ve never touched your ass!”

“So he says,” Josh joked.

“Uhh, maybe some other time,” Ashley smiled stiffly, withdrawing her hand almost immediately. Josh shrugged, no offense taken.

“All right,” he said. “Your loss.”

“H-Hey, uh, Ash,” Chris stammered once down on deck and in front of her. In his mind, he thought about telling Ashley how her Hawaiian-flower two-piece and the silk sash she had tied around her waist complemented her red hair and made her look like she was dressed in full-bloomed passion. Except in the end he couldn’t bring himself to say anything of the sort out loud. Like usual, he was too shy. “How, I mean…” He crossed his arms, trying for a cool-calm-and-collected pose. Though somehow it made him look more awkward, and Josh cringed for him. “Fancy meeting you here. How’s the, uh… weather treating you? Your skin, I mean. It’s uh… it’s not burning, is it?”

“You gonna ask her if she knows she’s getting sun cancer while you’re at it?” Josh poked Chris in the side and immediately the conversation fell quiet like a bad joke.

Thankfully, the sound of approaching footsteps drew Josh’s attention away from the sorry sight of flirting and as he spun around he spotted a more successful pair of lovebirds trudging up from below the yacht’s lower quarters. Though _were_ they successful? By the looks of things, Mike was still dressed as he was the last time he was seen; his ball cap, which was now pulled down over his eyes, his sleeveless summer hoodie, and old boy’s jeans over his boxers. As for Jessica, she was still in her beachwear: a white spaghetti-strapped t-shirt and yellow shorts. There wasn’t a wrinkle on either of them, which was weird. Considering what they had left to do.

“What’s THIS?” Josh opened his arms as Mike and Jessica sheepishly joined them on deck. “I didn’t think you two’d be gifting us with your presence so soon--if you know what I mean.”

“Hey, man,” Mike mumbled as he stopped next to Josh.

There was room on the cushions beside Beth and Ashley for one more warm body, but oddly enough Jessica chose to stand next to the railing and look out over the sea instead. She didn’t say anything, or make it seem like she and Mike were on bad terms. They just weren’t on _good_ terms. And Josh couldn’t have that.

“Guys-guys, why the long faces?” He looked between Mike and Jessica. “I leave you alone for what, twenty minutes, and suddenly it’s all frowns and no more clowning around? It couldn’t have been THAT bad. Mike?” Josh backhanded Mike on the shoulder. “Buddy. Tell me this can be fixed.”

“Jess, she’s uh… she’s on her period,” Mike whispered once he thought Jessica was out of hearing range. But he had a louder voice than he thought, and the second the words tumbled from his lips she was spinning around.

“Mike!” Jessica shrieked like she couldn’t believe his big mouth. “You SO did just not,” she laughed bitterly. “If I wanted you to tell the whole fucking world, I wouldn’t have taken you aside to tell you in PRIVATE!”

Albeit her tone was lighthearted, there was still some anger to be heard.

“Oh you poor, poor, poor-poor souls,” Josh shook his head, laughing. “Smited by Mother Nature’s chastity belt! Your moons are NOT aligned, it seems.” No one was joining in. “Come on, guys, don’t you find that a little funny? Mike?”

Mike shook his head.

“Uh-oh. What did my brother say now?” Beth cut in when sensing the tense atmosphere as she briefly looked up from her phone. “When he’s drunk he can’t tell the difference between liquid courage or being a complete jerk--he barely remembers anything by morning, so I might as well even the odds here.” She poked at Josh’s ass with her foot. “Yesterday I heard him calling out Chris’ name in his sleep,” she tattled, and Jessica and Ashley both gasped.

“What?” Chris gasped as well, and immediately his head snapped to his best bro. “Dude.”

“N-No!” Josh stuttered, feeling his face redden. “I-It was a nightmare. Just a stupid, fucking nightmare.”

“A ‘fucking’ nightmare.” Chris deadpanned, cocking a brow. “Fucking WHO, exactly?”

“Chris, buddy, I swear! You and I, we were being chased by these, these natives, OKAY? Indians, man. They had us surrounded. You got shot with an arrow, right here, in the chest,” Josh motioned to his own. “They were yelling and screaming, and breaking down the cabin door--”

“Does that excuse explain the extremely hard ‘morning wood,’ too?” Beth mellowed in, and Jessica’s jaw dropped with a silent ‘oh, busted’ and interested eyes.

Josh opened his mouth, but drew a blank. While he wouldn’t admit it, yes: he _had_ dreamed of fucking his best friend’s brains out. It wasn’t the first time he did, and he prayed it wouldn’t be the last time he envisioned Chris’ normally spiked bangs flat from stale gel as their sweaty, naked bodies slapped against one another and their heavy breaths mingled like summer air with misplaced kisses and heat. Chris was so tight, a goddamn virgin with how he clenched around a cock too big for him and pathetically moaned out only one name like he was going to cum after every hard thrust. Yeah, last night was fucking hot as Hell. Josh could get another boner just thinking about it like his own secret porn stash, but not right now. He couldn’t have Chris finding out, eventually maybe, but for that to happen the situation would have to be dire, like _life-and-death_ dire. And since no one was dying as of yet, Josh was satisfied with pleading the fifth.

Mike, ever the jester, not so much.

“Girl, he was fucking COCKED and loaded, ready for those bastards the second they opened the door,” Mike mimicked a growl as he made the motion of holding a shotgun below his waist. “Am I right?” He looked over to Josh, who wasted no time with a high-five; the contact cringe-worthy.

“THAT’S what I’m talking about, man!” Josh exclaimed.

Not far from where they were, there was a warm bottle of tequila that had been left out on the glass table, and Mike went over and scooped it up, alongside two shot glasses. “Hey, you want?” He shook the bottle at Josh, listening to the liquid slosh around like the sea. Once he received the go-ahead, he unscrewed the cap and poured the distilled beverage like an amateur bartender; there was more going onto the counter than into the shot glasses.

Unimpressed, Josh frowned. “Dude, you spill any more of that and I’ll have you drinking it up off the table.” When Mike gave him a shrugged-off ‘doesn’t seem so bad,’ Josh added, “With a straw.”

Jessica perked. “Now THAT would be kinda hot,” she mused, hands on her hips.

“You get too hot you’ll need to cool down,” Josh thumbed, towards the sea. “You gonna go for a dip?”

“Uhh, I don’t think so,” Jessica said, her voice a little insecure. “Wouldn’t want to ruin my hair.” She laughed, but everyone knew the truth, and Mike wasted no time rubbing it in.

“What? Afraid you’re gonna attract some SHARKS?” He quipped. Wink.

“Attract would NOT be the word I’d use,” Jessica said, glaring at Mike like he was a girl-chasing old man; unpleasing to her eyes right now.

“You’re right. It’d be a full-on dinner bell,” Josh added. “Ding, ding, ding!”

“Speaking of DINNER--got anything else to eat besides this confectionery, Josh? I’m trying to watch my figure,” Jessica asked as she poked at the appetizers on the silver platter that had been laid out ever since they had anchored.

“Uh, no, actually.” Josh rubbed the back of his neck. “I was kinda under the impression we were all gonna be eating, ya know, EACH OTHER--” He teased, which caused Jessica to ‘ugh’ and stomp away, like she was done with him. “--in the mini fridge!” He called over his shoulder. “I think there’s some pizza--”

_“Uh, did somebody say SHARKS?”_

Josh turned to see Sam coming down the stairs from the second story of the yacht. She had some sunburn on her shoulders, on her chest, and even on her nose, which he noticed a little more once she took off her sunglasses. Her hair was neatly off her neck in a clip, and she was wearing a purple one-piece bathing suit with frills on the sides. Earlier, she had asked to use the in-built Jacuzzi up top, and he didn’t see why not.

“THAT is why I don’t swim in the ocean,” Sam said, joining the conversation.

“Right? Even though we don’t see them they’re ALWAYS there,” Chris added. “I saw this one news report; it was from a bird’s eye view. People were swimming and enjoying themselves and there were like, five or six sharks circling in the water--right below them--”

“Enough,” Josh cut in. “I don’t wanna hear this shit while my baby sis is out there, okay? Now, Chris.”

“Uhh, y-yeah?”

“Gimme your phone.” Josh said, then sighed when his best friend eyed him skeptically. “Dude, your connection’s probably got something to do with the wifi. I changed it yesterday. Turns out some creepy old guy living at the docks had been leeching off it--since the pass was on the damn box. Go figure, right?”

Chris didn’t seem to see the mischievous glint in Josh’s eye as he complied, since the story was pretty damn believable, but Ashley saw it and perked. Somebody was getting wet. And the minute Chris’ phone was in Josh’s hands she got up. Save the technology first, was Chris’ motto. He would thank Josh later. Hopefully.

“He’s all yours,” Josh saluted.

“What? No! JOSH--” Chris pleaded-begged as he made a swipe for his friend. He didn’t care to comment about how cute he thought Ashley’s smile was, nor did he willing accept her gentle pull towards the railing of the yacht. He fought back and bumped right into Mike, who in turn caught him in a headlock, finished his tequila shot and Josh’s as well, picked the squirming flaxen-haired blond up off his feet, and chucked him overboard.

“Lemme know how the water is, okay man?” Mike yelled over the splash and Chris’ high-strung burbling of, _‘HOLY SHIT, SHIT--IT’S COLD!’_

Seconds later, Ashley pulled off her sash and jumped in herself, hat and all, a few feet away from Chris.

“So not cool, bro!” Chris cursed upward once he managed to steady himself. His arms were moving a hundred miles a minute to keep his head afloat above the waves. He hated getting water in his ears. Correction: any more than had already gotten in them from his splash and burn.

“I can make it up to you--here, CATCH!” Josh said and threw down two water pistols into the water; a red and blue. “Remember those?”

“Do I remember?!” How could Chris forget? The first weekend they had ever hung out on this yacht as eight-year-olds, he and Josh had played _Cops and Robbers_ from sunup until sundown. Hiding behind shit, squirting each other and others in the face. It was like a stroll down memory lane again. Instinctively, Chris lunged and grabbed a hold of his, the red one, re-imagining how Josh and he had went at each other guns-a-blazing, but when he turned around and pulled the trigger—it suddenly dawned on him his opponent was _Ashley_. And she didn’t exactly know the purpose of the toys.

As a result, Chris squirted her square in the eye. She yelped out in more shock than pain, and covered her face with both hands, turning away in the water. She made it look so smooth, her turn, but her legs were probably working over time.

“Oh, oh jeez… I-I’m sorry, Ash,” Chris murmured. He made sure to grab ahold of the blue water pistol as well, so it wouldn’t drift away, before he moved closer to see if she was all right.

“Brotip: don’t shoot a girl in the face. It never bodes well,” Josh lectured, though inwardly enjoying the outcome.

“Hey, you’re the one who gave me the gun!” Chris called back up like it was Josh’s fault before Ashley shoved his head under the water as payback, and when he came back up he was coughing and complaining about now having phytoplankton swimming around inside his ears.

Drawn by Mike’s strong laugh, as well as Josh’s, Hannah stirred from where she was in the water. She stopped floating, allowing her feet to gracefully sink downward as she turned her body towards the yacht and took in its distance of fifty-feet. The waves had carried her a little further than where she originally started, their tugging calming but relentless. She wouldn’t have guessed it, but one of her black bathing suit straps had come away from her shoulder, hanging low and almost revealing her right breast. With a reserved peep she fiddled with it in modesty, thinking Mike was looking.

Emily and Matt weren’t far off from where Hannah was. Emily was on an inflatable pool float like a princess while her boy-toy boated her around on it, via her orders. He was good at following them, as long as she strung him along with promise of a reward later.

“Hey, hey,” Emily slapped at the water to catch Matt’s attention before she pulled her ear buds out of her ears. “I dare you to swim over and scare Hannah.”

“What?” Matt let one hand drift from the float as he followed Emily’s point. “Why?”

“She keeps eyeing Mike… It’s pissing me off.”

“Well, it SHOULDN’T.” Matt said, and if Emily was listening she would have heard the slight hurt in his tone. “You’re here, with ME, and Mike--he’s over THERE… with Jess. They have nothing to do with us.”

“I know, but--”

“Em, I’d be willing to push you around the entire ocean if you asked me to.” Matt added, trying to flirt. “It’d be an all-day workout.”

“Are you calling me FAT?” Emily asked in all seriousness, totally missing the point.

“No, Em,” God forbid. “I just meant--”

“Hey Matt?” Emily said. “Instead of running your mouth, which you are absolutely horrible at, why don’t you go--you know, over there--and scare Hannah for me. Like, now. Right now. GO!” She splashed Matt in the face with water, and Matt sighed heavily.

“Whatever you say, babe,” he muttered before he submerged himself beneath the waves.

Emily giggled to herself as she anticipated Hannah’s reaction, and she didn’t have to wait long. The trail of bubbles left by Matt led straight to Hannah, and the second Hannah went under with a little gasp, Emily broke out in laughter. In a flash, Hannah resurfaced and started screaming.

Josh ran to the side of the yacht where he could see Hannah was and called out to her from the deck. Hannah was already in tears by the time Matt came up beside her for air; it wasn’t just the seawater running down her face and cheeks.

“Hannah--hey hey,” Matt chuckled uneasily. He didn’t expect for her to have such a devastated reaction and reached out to calm her down. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Not that badly, at least. And he couldn’t feel worse as Hannah twisted her body away from him and turned to swim back to the yacht, whining and murmuring all the way.

In the meantime, Emily was having a blast. “Good one, Matt!” She cheered, clapping her hands together. “That’ll teach her to eye MY man.”

“Your WHO?!” Matt couldn’t believe her.

“Nothing!” Emily chirped innocently.

“Oh, you guys did SO not just do that!” Josh growled as he stomped around on the deck and came back with a volleyball seconds later, whilst Beth helped Hannah out of the water. “This’ll teach you to pull a stunt like that again!” With all his might, Josh chucked the volleyball at Matt, who gasped as it slapped the water right next to him, and kept bouncing a good twenty-feet away. “Now think about what you’ve done as you go and get that ball! I’m not letting you back on this boat unless you have _Wilson_ with you, so get swimming!”

“Dude.” Chris uttered as he pulled his water-logged self out of the water using the plastic ladder on the side of the yacht, then proceeded to help Ashley up. He could hear the anger in Josh’s tone. Being friends since the Third Grade he knew what it sounded like, and right now Josh was angry.

“I’m fine,” Josh eventually said, when he felt Chris’ eyes on his back. “Just need a minute, alright?”

“She okay?” Mike asked from beside Beth, and Hannah stopped crying as her sister wrapped a towel around her shoulders. “Wow, didn’t realize you looked so cute without your glasses,” Mike said as he reached out and swept Hannah’s bangs out of her eyes. “No wonder Em’s jealous. She’s got some mean competition.” Unbeknownst to Mike, Hannah took his phony flirting to heart and pushed the strand Mike had touched behind her ear.

“You have GOT to be kidding,” Emily grit as she watched the scene unfold from her float. “Fuck, FUUUCK,” she snarled. Apparently her ‘get Hannah away from Mike’ plan had backfired, and now Mike was within kissing distance of Hannah. “Maaatt,” she whined, just now noticing the jock breast-stroking after a speck—the volleyball.

Back on-board the yacht, Beth, ever the intervener, growled and slapped lady-killer Mike away from her sister. Ashley, on the other hand, was a few feet away and wringing the seawater out her hair. Though just as she ran her fingers through it to get out all the knots, she suddenly realized that her head was two times lighter.

“Oh no,” Ashley whined as she patted around her neck for a string that wasn’t there anymore.

“What?” Chris asked from beside her, drying what he could of his glasses on his wet shirt. Because wet on wet worked so well.

“That,” she pointed.

“And ‘that’ would be…” Chris put his glasses back on to follow Ashley’s finger and eventually found himself staring at her summer hat. It was floating away in the tide, about ten-feet away from the boat. “Oh boy.” Deep down, Chris was scared shitless of the water. All it really took was Steven Spielberg’s _JAWS_ , to ruin it for him. Even trying to imagine that the sea was safe proved relatively difficult nowadays, but when he looked over and saw the ocean in Ashley’s pale eyes all his rational thought fled. He was going to man-up and show Ashley how big his brave was. With that in mind, Chris got down onto his butt and jumped back into the water.

Josh heard the splash and turned around. “Seriously, man? For a HAT?” His hands went to his hips as he watched Chris get basically nowhere. “It’s a goner, man. She can always buy a new one. What she CAN’T buy is another you. You’re one of a kind; limited product.”

“Can it, Josh,” Chris said through grit teeth, inwardly telling his mind that ‘ _every little thing was gonna be alright_ ’ and thanking Bob Marley for the tune as he slowly tried for a couple strokes. Though somehow for every one managed, it seemed like the hat drew further and further by three.

“No. He’s right Chris, just let it go.” Ashley called out, already prepared for her loss of sixty dollars. “It’s not worth you getting hurt over.”

Chris tried to laugh it off. “What’s the worst that can happen?” He said around a mouthful of water before spitting it out with a wet, ‘ugh.’

“Besides swallowing whale sperm,” Josh wanted to laugh at the louder _‘UGH’_ Chris made at the statement, “I don’t know… DROWNING? Your clothes are gonna weigh you down, man. Strip some off! Show some skin!” Josh rocked his body provocatively to the beat of the song in the background. “Unst, unst, unst--”

Suddenly the music shut off and everyone on deck, Josh, Hannah, Beth, Sam, Mike, and Ashley, froze. There stood a man next to the iPod dock, a _stranger_ ; eye patch on his right eye, heavy jacket despite the summer sun, with a huge-ass harpoon slung over his shoulder and a knapsack.

“Uhh, where the fuck did he come from?” Beth asked from beside her sister, literally everyone’s question in a nutshell. _Except_ Jessica’s.

With a hot plate of pizza in her hand like a waitress, Jessica waltzed up from below deck where she had disappeared earlier in search of food. “Did somebody order pepperoni?” She asked, before noticing the Stranger. “Uh, he was NOT on my order list,” she said with a timid point before going over to Mike, who was beckoning her closer. The pizza was placed on the glass table and out of the way.

After that, the whole deck fell quiet. There weren’t any archipelagos for miles, no land either. And this guy just snuck up on all them—got past ten pairs of eyes and ears? How?

In a lean, Josh caught the tail end of a fisherman’s boat parked behind his family’s yacht. Mystery number one: solved. “You a Patrol Officer?” Josh asked, dumbly. He knew what those uniforms looked like, and this man definitely wasn’t one. He just wanted to throw the suggestion out there and see if the man took the bait.

“‘Cause, uh, I don’t think we’re disturbing the neighbors, man,” Mike said, finishing Josh’s train of thought. The Stranger looked between the two of them.

“No.” Flat out and simple, easy to process was the word. “All ya’ll kids shouldn’t be out here--not this far,” the Stranger gruffed. “Now I want you to keep that music off, bring her up,” the yacht, “to thirty knots and head back to the mainland. Right now. And get your friends outta the water. It ain’t safe.”

“And we should follow your orders, because…?” Mike crossed his arms.

“Because I’m askin’ nicely,” the Stranger huffed and stalked forward. The sound of his heavy boots on the hollow flooring of the yacht sent chills down everyone’s spine. “I was trackin’ him. Was on his trail all night and nearly had him in my grasp until I lost sight of him fifty miles East around noon. If I picked up your damned sound waves on my home-built hydrophones from all the way out there, then I know he did, too. He’ll be comin’, and there ain’t a thing I can do to stop him.”

“Uh, who’s HE?” Sam looked between her friends. Their faces were as confused as hers.

“Sun’s fried his brain, Sam. Guy’s delusional,” Mike tried to reason, ignoring the stink-eye from the Stranger. “Look at him--all he needs is a pegged leg and a parrot and then he’s a goddamn pirate! He’s just a fuckin’ lunatic, looking for his thirty minutes of fame!”

“Hey. Let’s just… hear him out… Okay? Guys?” Sam asked everyone, hoping they would comply. She was trying to be considerate and not to rile the Stranger, in case he _was_ a Looney off his rocker. Because if he was, then they were all shit out of luck.

“These waters here,” the Stranger began once all had settled. “They belong to Wendy--”

“WENDY?” Mike scoffed. “Yeah. Right. You gonna go all Captain Hook on us, too? Make us walk the plank?”

“Pipe the hell down,” the Stranger commanded. “Now, I come from a long line of fishermen, and my forefathers of my forefathers first recorded the creature in the sixteen century, where he was sighted off the coast of Poland. They thought it was a Giant Squid, but they were wrong. Ain’t no squid alive that can do what HE can do.” He paced by Sam, then Mike, then stopped at Josh who seemed the most affronted by his presence. “First, he’ll inject you with poison--through a bite or through the barbs on his body, it don’t matter, really. Within a matter of seconds you’ll be paralyzed and drown… if you’re lucky.”

“What is HE,” Sam still wanted to know, but just before the Stranger could answer everyone heard excessive splashing in the water and turned. It was Chris, who was cheering in triumph with Ashley’s hat in hand.

“Hey! Hey, Ash! I got your… Whoa, uh…” Chris’ arm immediately dropped from above his head and back into the water at the sight of the Stranger among his friends. “Hey… guys? Is it safe to… you know… come BACK? Should I be swimming for the nearest coastline for help?” The last part was a joke, but no one was laughing. Especially not Chris when he saw the Stranger shove Josh and Ashley out of the way to point a fucking huge-ass harpoon in his direction. “Yikes.”

“Get him outta the water! NOW!” The Stranger yelled. He didn’t need to say it twice, because everyone on the yacht saw the disturbance among the waves behind Chris; the ripples and the shadow.

“Chris! Hey, b-buddy!” Josh called out with an uneasy laugh. “Kinda need your ass right now!”

“Dude, seriously? Enough with the homo--”

“Over HERE, you dipshit! Need your ass OVER HERE--on the fucking yacht--right now! I’ll give you a towel and a fucking hot cup o’ cocoa. Just like we used to, okay? Just get your ass over here now--NO!” Josh yelled louder when he saw Chris turning around. “Nonono! Don’t look, man! Nothing but ocean.”

“Chris, hey asshat!” Mike’s hands were already working on the zipper of his hoodie like he was ready to play _Superman_ and jump in the water to save Lois Lane. “Don’t fucking make me come and get you, ‘cause I honestly don’t want to!”

“What the hell, guys? Are the names REALLY necessary? You’re hurting my feel--”

“Oh my god, oh mygod, ohmygod! Why won’t anybody tell him--it’s right BEHIND you, Chris! BEHIND YOU!!” Ashley yelled, and Josh closed his eyes.

Great. Now Chris was going to have a heart attack and fucking drown.

“What?” Chris squinted, then floundered in a turn to see the height of everyone’s panic. There definitely was something behind him and it was swimming towards him, fast, like a torpedo. “Holy SH--”

“Swim, boy! SWIM!” The Stranger yelled.

And Chris did. He felt like a fucking eight-year-old at the community pool learning for the first time again. Though for a split second he forgot _how_ to. What was it? Monkey-airplane-solider—no, that was the _backstroke_. Fuck.

“Oh my god! Just swim, Chris! SWIM!” Ashley cried. It was all she could do. She was on her knees, hand over her mouth, and eyes stinging with more tears than saltwater. “Faster, Chris! Swim FASTER!”

“Oh, man, oh man ohman!” Chris rambled as he finally started to breaststroke. Surprisingly enough, his glasses didn’t come off as he swam-flailed, but like Josh had noticed earlier, such clothes weren’t swim-friendly.

“Take your fucking over-shirt off!” Josh commanded as he shoved Ashley out of his way, to watch as Chris did what he was told. “Now get your ass over here! Don’t you fucking die on me, Cochise!”

Matt, who had just made it back to the yacht with _Wilson_ , was immediately caught up to speed via all the yelling and screaming. His face paled and he dropped the volleyball. “Oh my god. Em! Emily!” He cried and tried to get her attention. It took a while, since she had stuffed her ear buds back into her ears, but after a few more waves and jumps she was pulling them out. “There’s something in the water--IN the water!” He pointed.

“WHAT?!” Emily shrieked, and from then on it was like a race against time.

While Emily made her way to one side of the yacht, Chris was on the other with everyone else as an audience. Whatever was in the water, it was express-train fast. It was picking up speed like a fucking mini _Godzilla_ , back out of the water, as it broke the surface for a second, then disappeared again. But everyone could still see the dark shadow lurking under the waves. It didn’t look like a fucking bull shark, or a tiger shark, or _JAWS_ , or a goddamn prehistoric Megalodon, either… Just what the hell was it?

Chris reached the yacht first, but the minute he grabbed ahold of the plastic ladder it broke off. Luckily, Josh was quick at improv and was already dropping onto his stomach and reaching down for him with shaking hands. But every time he swiped for Chris the seawater got in the way. It made their skin slippery, any hold near impossible to keep. It was literally like trying to catch grease. Their fingers would barely touch for a minute, within an inch that felt like a helpless mile, then slip away with ease, and after attempt number three Josh started to feel the strain in his arms.

“Josh! Fuck, man! Please…” Chris was close to tears. He looked so small among the riling waves. “Please, please pleaseplease don’t let me die!”

“Chris, ChrisChrisChris!” Josh shook his head, trying to be strong for the both of them. “It’ll be okay, bro! I got you. I fucking got you!” He promised, then made another swipe, hoping for a change. But then the boat went up with a sharp dip, and Chris went down. Their hands didn’t even come close that time and Josh growled, leaning farther out. “M-Mike, man, grab ahold of my legs!! MIKE?!”

“Jesus hot sauce Christmas cake!” Mike wasn’t listening. He was too busy huffing into his fist as he witnessed the thing in the water moving dangerously close to Chris. Just a few more inches and—

The Stranger shot his harpoon off and into the waves. The loud _shink_ noise the spear made on release succeeded in scaring the shadow away, flushing it deeper below the surface. They all saw it disappear under the boat. “Whatever you kids are planning, do it now!” He yelled.

Without another second to lose, Mike lunged forward. He grabbed ahold of Josh’s legs and practically pushed him over the edge. Jessica was behind Mike, arms around his waist like this was about to turn into a human version of tug-of-war. “Fucking grab him already, man!” Mike demanded.

“You don’t think I’m trying?!” Josh shouted just as his fingers slipped under Chris’ shirt collar. “Oh. Got him! Oh, oh fuck! Now pull me up! The fuck UP!” Just as Mike and Jessica were yanking Josh back, however, something knocked into the bottom of the boat and threw the two off-balance, causing them to fall flat on their asses.

“Shit, shit shit, shitshitshit--fuck, FUCK!” Mike scampered to recollect himself, his bare feet slipping and sliding in the puddles of water on deck, while Jessica was helped up by Beth and Hannah.

The Stranger was reeling in his harpoon for another attack, but out of the corner of his left eye he saw Josh slipping over with Chris and abandoned the weapon. As the last of the rope was sucked into the ocean, the Stranger’s big hands latched on to Josh’s belt and dragged him, along with Chris, onto the deck like a good catch. He threw them down in a splat, Chris between Josh’s legs, both panting up a storm.

Meanwhile, Ashley was looking over the railing and into the calming water from where Chris was just pulled. She gasped at what she saw glide underneath the boat. “Whoa…” She took a weary step back. Whatever it was, it had a face. A _human_ face.

“Oh my god… OH, my god,” Chris sputtered like a fish. His right cheek was plastered on Josh’s heaving chest. Josh could feel Chris’ breath through the fabric of his soaked shirt. It was hotter than the sun.

“Dude,” Josh sputtered back with an awkward laugh. “All that adrenaline--went straight to my dick. And you breathing on me like this--it’s giving me a fucking hard-on. Quit it.”

“W-What?” Chris returned the laugh. “Dude, PLEASE tell me you’re just ‘joshing’ me.”

For a moment there was nothing but silent chuckles and more breaths between them, until Chris realized that the hardness pressing against his side _wasn’t_ Josh’s knee.

“SO not joshing you,” Josh uttered back, chocolatey smooth, when Chris’ gorgeous blue eyes met his. _This_ was the moment he had been waiting for. Life-and-death. “Chris, buddy, I--”

_“HEY! What about ME?! HELLOOO?!”_

The interruption came from Emily, who was still a ways from the yacht, sitting on her float, arms on either side of her like she was rowing a kayak. Except, after a little more thought, she realized it was slowing her down.

“Fuck it!” She huffed and abandoned the inflatable with a shove. She assumed she wouldn’t need it in the homestretch, but as she neared the side of the boat she realized she could have used the extra inch or two. “No, no no, no! Matt, help me out of the water!” She called up as she clawed at the hull, but received no response. Matt was on the other side of the deck with the others, checking out the commotion until he realized he was being summoned.

“Oh, oh shit! Em, hold on!” Matt sprinted to the other side. He got onto his knees and tried to stretch down, since this side didn’t have a ladder like the other did. Josh was a little shorter so Matt could see why Mike’s help was needed, but still Matt’s own arm couldn’t reach, even with half his body hanging over the side.

“Matt, will you just… fucking give me your hand?!” Emily pleaded, ignorant to his efforts. In her eyes, they weren’t good enough. They never were. “Hey, dumbass, fucking help me out of the water already!! Goddammit, Matt! HELP ME!!!” She yelled in a fit.

“I’m TRYING!” Matt yelled back. “Hold still!”

“You expect me to hold fucking STILL--do you want me to die?!”

“EM!” Matt bellowed, nearly fed up with her bitching. “Don’t fucking move, just… let me think!” Should he run upstairs and grab the net used to clean the Jacuzzi to pull her in, or use the rope and life-vest right next to him? Fuck. He didn’t know.

“MAAAATT!!! Oh! Oh, GOD! MATT! Something touched me!!” Emily flailed her arms, her legs doing the same under the water. “I-I think it bit me--it fucking BIT ME!! NOOOO!!!”

“MOVE!” The Stranger pulled Matt away from the side of the yacht and got down onto one knee. He tossed his knapsack at Sam for safe keeping before reaching out for Emily. “Gimme your hand, girl!” Because of his longer arms he was able to grab her with no trouble at all and in one go she was being pulled up, onto the yacht.

“My foot! Ow! My foot!” Emily wailed, and her wild thrashing and pushing to get away from the water threw the Stranger off-balance and overboard. They all heard his sudden scream, and just as the Stranger’s body went under the waves, the dark shadow of whatever had been chasing Chris darted out. Soon the waters looked like a feeding pool full of sharks, and there was a stench; a horrid and rotting smell.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” Mike cursed as a gush of blood rose from below the waves and swirled next to the yacht. The old man didn’t surface, nothing of him did. “Oh, fuck. FUCK! He’s dead! Oh, goddammit!”

“Did you see it?! What the fuck WAS that?!” Matt shrieked as he stood up from where he had been shoved, hands behind his head. He didn’t really catch a glimpse of anything. Everything just happened too fast, was a blur. Behind him, Emily was sprawled out on the yacht floor. “Em!” Matt turned around when he heard her groan and knelt down to grab her shoulder. “Are you okay?!”

“No thanks to you!” Emily said with a slap at Matt, who ducked his head to escape her fury with an, _‘ouch, hey--EM!’_ “Now help me the fuck up, will ya?” Reluctantly, Matt did as he was commanded, and with a limp Emily was standing. The top of her foot had a nasty gash on it and after a couple steps she tottered. “I, uh… Hey. I don’t feel so good, you guys,” she muttered. She sounded sick, like she was going to throw up, and without warning she went weak in the knees. Matt had to grab her and hold her in a hug to keep her from falling back to the floor.

“Put her down over here!” Sam ordered as she pointed to the sectional sofa. Jessica, Hannah and Beth moved out of the way. “Easy, watch her head.”

“Oh my god. Is she… is she DEAD?!” Matt exclaimed as he laid her down. “Em? EMILY?!” Her eyes were still open, but her breathing was shallow.

“I… I think she’s just paralyzed.” Sam surmised, and Emily made a little noise—a groan past clenched teeth. It sounded a lot like, _‘No shit, Sherlock.’_

“How do you know that?” Matt asked.

“The old man, he uh… he said that whatever this THING is, its barbs or bite can cause paralysis,” Sam paraphrased.

 _‘Great,’_ Emily grit.

“This is SO fucked up!” Matt’s hands were back above his head. A few feet away Josh and Chris were getting up, only to be bombarded by Ashley.

“Ohmygod, Chris. CHRIS!” She waved her arms frantically. “There was this… I saw this thing in the water and, and it looked like it had a… a face. A fucking FACE, Chris! There, I said it.” She covered her mouth. “Oh, god.”

“Whoa, Ashley, calm down--” Ashley was speaking so fast that Chris couldn’t follow.

“No! How can I just ‘calm down,’ Chris? I CAN’T calm down! I’m trying to tell you what I saw,” she went off on a tangent. “There was a FACE--in the water! A fucking FACE, Chris!”

“What?” A _face_? “That’s… That’s ridiculous! OUR brains are probably fried from the sun! Lack of water, alcohol--for all we know we could be hallucinating!”

“Yeah, or that old guy spiked the punch,” Mike added.

“Oh my god, why won’t anyone listen to me!” Ashley whined. “I know what I saw. It was a FACE!” And now that she was looking, she certainly saw the doubt on Chris’. “You don’t believe me,” she uttered.

“Ash, just, THINK about what you’re saying!” Chris tried not to yell, but he couldn’t help it with how his voice was high-strung with panic. “Let’s be practical about this: You honestly expect us to believe that a PERSON did that?!” He pointed at the thick swell of blood coloring waters once blue. “That old guy was fucking ripped apart in a matter of SECONDS! How? And with, with WHAT?! Where’s the scuba gear? How is he or, or she, holding their breaths?! It HAD to be a fucking shark, or worse--that’s the only reasonable explanation for this!”

“What can be worse than a SHARK, Chris--”

“Guys,” Josh interrupted. His hands were out for silence, his eyes on the yacht’s flooring. “It doesn’t matter what the fuck it is, okay? Where did it go?”

“Uhh… that’s a very good question,” Mike muttered as he made the motion of leaning out to look over the side of the yacht, but Josh stepped forward to cut him off.

“Not too close, okay?” Josh muttered before they both, in contradiction to what was just said, leaned out at the same time. Amidst the clearing blood in the ocean there was something there, something coming nearer and nearer to the surface. “Camera,” Josh deadpanned the minute he started seeing a _face_ past all the afternoon light shimmering on the waves. Holy fuck, Ashley was right.

“What?” Chris said behind Mike, who was beside Josh. “You say something--”

“Get me my fucking camera! Where is it?!”

“You left it on the mini bar!” Beth pointed from beside her sister and watched as her big brother bolted to go and grab it.

Josh found it exactly where he had discarded it. He shoved his fingers through the grip and nearly slipped over the side of the yacht at the speed he came rushing back with. “Where is it--do you still see it?!”

“There!” Mike shouted in a point, putting his other hand on Josh’s shoulder in a guide. “Right there!”

Josh zoomed in. The thing… it didn’t have flippers or fins, but wing-like arms out on either side. The entire body was covered in scales— _barbs_ , as the old man had described to them—which glistened in the late-afternoon sun as it skimmed the waters away from the yacht. It had a skirt-like tail, and that face… the teeth, they were pointed, like a shark’s and twisted into an animalistic smile. Pretty soon it was too far to see, which was when, and only when, everyone let himself or herself breathe again.

“Holy fuck… Did we get that?!” Josh laughed as he stepped away from the side of the yacht. Taken by a moment of adrenaline he grabbed Chris by the face and pulled him into a kiss. Fucking finally. It was short but sweet, and when it was over Josh was leaving the camcorder in Chris’ hands and pushing away from Chris to rip his beanie from his head and toss it downward like a full stop. Star-stuck, Chris hardly blinked. “PLEASE tell me we fucking got that, Cochise, ‘cause we’re not getting any retakes!”

“Huh?” Chris uttered, his mind still with the kiss. Mike had to take the camera from him.

“No, fuck… The video cuts out, man.”

“What? Lemme see!” Josh yanked Mike’s hand and the camcorder closer to his face. _‘Ahoy there, crew and crewettes, and welcome back to the annual oceanic escape from reality hosted by yours truly,’_ “Fast forward.” Mike did, and Josh’s heart sank. _‘There! Right there--’_ The recording cut out just before the zoom in. The memory card must have gotten full. “Dammit… FUCK!” Josh cursed. His chest was heaving. Fifteen seconds passed, but to Josh they felt like a minute, and he abruptly poked Chris in the chest. He just had a revelation. “Dude, do you… do you know what this means?”

“Uh, that vampires and any other creature said NOT to exist PROBABLY exists? That we’re not fucking alone out here,” Chris rambled. The list could go on. “Oh my god, you think the _Loch Ness Monster_ is real?!”

“Fuck Nessy, man! This baby right here is gonna turn into one of those vids on _YouTube_ with like five-mil views--we’re gonna be internet-famous!” Josh shouted. “We could title it ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’s long, lost cousin,’ or some shit like that!”

“Uh, people are probably gonna think it’s been edited together. I WOULD even think it’s been edited together--it cuts off at the best part!” Chris said in all honesty.

“Well, at least we’ll know it’s real, right? RIGHT?!”

“Uhh, I’m still struggling with whether that kiss was real… Was it?” Chris asked, bashfully.

“Uhhhh, what kiss?”

“The KISS, Josh. The one we shared less than five minutes ago? Oh my god…” Chris staggered, hands on either side of his head. “You kissed me. You fucking kissed me!”

“Was it bad? Scale from one-to-ten. Don’t be shy.”

“No, I mean… Not necessarily,” Chris said. “…Seven?”

“Seven?!”

“It was too short, bro. Gonna have to do better next time.”

Whilst both Josh and Chris processed the discovery of the creature and the chances of a second kiss, Ashley glanced over to Sam, who was looking down at something in her hands. “Sam?” She asked.

“Sea Monk,” Sam uttered, mystified.

“What?” Mike harked over his shoulder, unable to draw his eyes away from the open waters.

“It says here that it’s a-a SEA MONK.” The old man’s knapsack was opened by her feet, and she had what appeared to be a journal in her hands, the sepia pages cracked open to the middle. “There must be like, hundreds of logs here--recordings of his encounters with it,” she said and pointed to the paragraph where she found the information. Like anyone could read from that far away.

“Sea Monk… Of course it is.” Mike muttered before turning around and walking towards the middle of the deck. “But, uh… is THAT what we’re gonna tell the authorities?” He pointed to where the Stranger had fallen, the red in the water diluted to a light pink now. “Because that old guy is fucking DEAD, you guys. Like, seriously dead. And the damage to your dad’s yacht, Josh. The blood… EM.” He waved his arm to Emily, who peeped in response. “So if you’ve got any bright ideas floating around in that head of yours on how we’re gonna explain all of THAT--I would totally be down to, ya know, hearing them. Like right now.” Mike watched as Josh shook his head. “Come on, man. Please tell me you at least have ONE excuse!”

“Lemme… Lemme think, okay?” Josh touched his fingertips to his brow. He already felt an oncoming headache. “We, uh… We just need a story that we all can stick to, right? Something close to the truth but like… NOT the truth?” Was that a question?

“Sooo you’re basically saying we should fucking jawbone ‘em until they believe us. And with what? Some old guy’s notes, who can’t corroborate our story because he’s probably in a fucking-hundred-and-one pieces at the bottom of the ocean? Pfft, yeah. Fat chance.” Mike scoffed. “We do that we’ll all be thrown into some crazy ass Sanatorium for a very, very long time. No thanks. Life is too short.”

“A Sanatorium sounds SUPER fine right about now,” Sam commented with a weary smile. “Anywhere but here.” Beside her, Chris, who had had a pensive look on his face for a while now, started to open his mouth—Josh heard the inhale.

“No. Don’t, fucking say it, man,” Josh warned with a finger. He knew his best friend _too_ well to read his mind. “Not gonna use that one.”

“But it-it fits!” Chris exclaimed.

“What FITS?” Mike asked and everyone aboard the Washington’s yacht fell silent in wait for Chris to take the floor, who was opening his arms like it was _that_ obvious.

“Guys,” Chris said. “We just got MONKED!”

**Author's Note:**

> Congrats, you've made it to THE END! Thanks so much for reading! :D


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